ERDOGAN AT IT AGAIN, ATTACKS MERKEL FOR SUPPORTING TERRORISTS

[Turkey]–Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has struck again, this time attacking German Chancellor, Angela Merkel for “supporting terrorists”.

In response, Merkel’s spokesman labelled the accusations as “clearly absurd” following Erdogan’s comments in an interview with Turkey’s A Haber TV.

“The chancellor has no intention of taking part in a game of provocation,” Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a written statement.

Erdogan – who is currently involved in a public feud with some European governments over the cancellation of political rallies in their countries ahead of an April referendum – had earlier accused Berlin of “not responding to 4,500 dossiers sent” by Turkey on suspects.

“Mrs Merkel, why are you hiding terrorists in your country? Why are you not doing anything?” Erdogan said. “Mrs Merkel, you are supporting terrorists.”

While expatiating on the accusations, Erdogan made references to Germany’s weak opposition to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group labelled a “terrorist organisation” by the Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

As The Page had reported earlier, Edrogan has similarly accused Netherlands, calling it a country of Nazi remnants, a comment which struck a rage-filled emotional cord with the public considering the fact that Netherlands has recently being under bombing attacks from Germany.

Erdogan has been seeking to harness the Turkish diaspora vote – which numbers as many as 1.4 million in Germany alone – ahead of the referendum on creating an executive presidency and scrapping the post of prime minister, according to Al Jazeera.

The controversy then began on March 2 when local authorities in the western German town of Gaggenau obstructed a rally which the Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag was set to attend.

This led other local authorities to imitate the decision.

Turkey has announced it would be putting diplomatic relations with the Netherlands on hold, following the actions of the Dutch authorities in preventing Turkish ministers from speaking at rallies on Saturday.